Re: Federal Government wants 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015

EVs could turn out similar to the TV market over the last 10 years.  There was a long while there when no one had an HD TV or big screen TV and the cost to buy one was super expensive.  Now, not only does everyone have it, the one they have is quickly becoming out of date.  TVs used to take forever to go Obsolete, instead, they just broke.

 

I think EVs could do the same.  it will be a matter of time before the majority of cars are EVs, then we'll all regret not waiting to get the latest, since the technology will improve so fast.  If you are a mechanic, you'd better learn how to work with EVs pretty quickly...they're coming.

On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 1:11 PM, Peter Sahlstrom <peter@stormlash.net> wrote:

http://www.energy.gov/news/10034.htm

One bit caught my attention especially:

"Making electric vehicles more affordable and accessible for American
consumers: A transformation of the existing $7,500 tax credit into a
rebate will give consumers the ability to receive this benefit at the
point of sale, similar to 'Cash for Clunkers'. The current individual
credit will be reformed into a tax credit claimable by dealers or
financers with clear transparency requirements to ensure the benefit
of the credit is passed on to consumers."

This is a clever move.  If tax reform passes, it's possible this
provision may still be handled separately; and regardless, it allows
people to consider the purchase price of an electric vehicle at the
net cost, instead of having to scrounge up the extra $7500 up-front
that they'll later get refunded through the tax credit.

This article also has some really good information:
http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/white-house-outlines-ambitious-plan-get-1m-el.
 One highlight:

"IBM recently conducted a pair of studies of consumer attitudes and
auto industry executives toward electric cars.

"On the positive side, the IBM study noted there is a potentially
large market for electric vehicles:

"19% of drivers surveyed said that they were either 'very likely' or
'likely' to consider purchasing an electric-only vehicle when shopping
for a new car. This is notable, given that 42% of drivers know only 'a
little' about EVs or have even 'only heard of them.'

"30% of drivers surveyed said that they would consider switching to an
electric car that got 100 miles or less per charge. Current electric
vehicles get about 50 to 100 miles per charge."


--
Peter Sahlstrom
peter@stormlash.net
http://peter.stormlash.net